Taking the Long Way

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About the Alliage

Alliage was founded in 1995; the company has since dissolved, however its designers continue to be well-known, active boatbuilders. The Alliage was designed by Jean Berret and Olivier Racoupeau; both men were avid regatta competitors. When French production boatbuilders called upon Berret he opened an office in 1978. Berret’s first work was for the Beneteau boayard; he designed the First 35 in 1979. Then in 1983 Racoupeau, trained in aeronautics and space science, joined Berret as his first employee. The pair designed many series boats for Beneteau, Alliage, Allures, Amel, Fountaine Pajot, and others, and partnered in 1994 to create Berret Racoupeu Yacht Designs. Berret and Racoupeau have designed roughly 15,000 custom yachts to date and their designs have won four world championships.

Detour is a 2001 Alliage 41′ – she is hull #1 of that size. She was built in St. Martin-la-Garenne, France. She has had one owner previous to the Grandjeans and had primarily sailed the Mediterranean. Detour is an aluminum hulled sailing vessel with a centerboard. She is a staysail-sloop rig.

Length Overall – 13 m (42 ft)

Length On Deck – 12,5 m (41 ft)

Waterline Length – 11,2 m (36 ft)

Displacement – 9,9 Tons

Beam – 4,15 m (13.6 ft)

Board-down Draft – 2,25 m (7.3 ft)

Board-up Draft – ,75 m (2.4 ft)

Water Tankage – 700 L (185 gal)

Fuel Tankage – 300 L (80 gal)

Engine – Yanmar 4JH3E

Detour‘s interior provides ample, comfortable living space; as well as a variety of storage. Detour has one galley, one head, two cabins, navigation station, and two interior storage closets.

Galley –

Welcome Inside! View – facing the stern/cockpit

Galley is on the port side at the base of the ladder. Galley has a two-burner, propane Force 10 stove with oven; two huge, circular sinks, and cabinet storage behind the white base boards.

View – facing stern/cockpit while standing at the stove in the galley. The refrigerator is beneath the right countertop, through the doorway is a storage closet

Refrigerator

Galley storage closet; houses the pressure water system, isolation transformer, battery charger, and shore power circuit breaker; as well as tools kept on shelves on the right side of the closet

Navigation Station –

The nav station is on the starboard side of the boat, directly across from our main saloon. It has two closets for storage, a lift-top desk for storage within, and also storage beneath the seat. The electrical panel is here, neatly hidden behind the wall.

Main Saloon –

Plenty of seating on the port side! A small storage cupboard in the far left corner, as well as storage beneath each seat. However, the seat on the very right of this photo, the seat which backs the aisleway, houses our battery bank.

Forward Cabin –

Enter the forward cabin.

View – facing forward. The doorway is a storage closet, to port a bed, to starboard a closet and seat.

View – facing stern/cockpit. Bed, two reading lights in addition to one ceiling light, ample storage for clothing on a shelf the length of the bed (will need a lee cloth). Also beneath the mattress are storage compartments and four draws in the base of the bed.

View – facing stern/cockpit looking through the doorway. The left a closet and you can see shelves on the closet exterior side directly beside a seat.

View – facing forward into the storage closet; starboard side batteries for the bow thruster and windless

Head –

The head is starboard side at the base of the ladder. It has a Lavac vacuum toilet, sink with extendable shower head, storage beneath the sink and behind the white base boards.

View – facing stern/cockpit. Here you have a glimpse of the head shower (yellow hanging towels) and also the doorway to the aft cabin.

Aft Cabin –

View – facing stern/cockpit; starboard side behind the ladder. The aft cabin has a storage shelf the length of the bed (needs a lee cloth) , hanging closet, aft cupboard, and compartments beneath the mattress. The aft cabin houses the water heater and Webasto forced hot air heater.

Engine Access –

Engine beneath the ladder

Engine access within the galley storage closet.

On Deck –

Detour has a cockpit with ample seating. There is storage beneath the port side cockpit seat; also access to the interworkings of the engine exhaust, the steering system, and the autopilot. Detour has a canvas dodger. Lines run from the mast to the cockpit include: main sail halyard, main sail sheet, main sail reefing lines #1 and #2, and centerboard lines.

Cockpit table

Steering wheel

Compartment beneath port side cockpit seat

The foredeck is easily maneuverable; hand railings line the topsides and the deck is covered in non-skid imitation teak. All the way forward is a locker that houses the anchor chain, bow thruster, and electronic bilge pump. The locker is large enough to store lines and sails.

Diane, we are back in action! Today I am writing as chapter #2 of our cruising begins… Thanks for asking and I hope you will enjoy our next adventure; we are certainly anticipating good things as we figure out Europe.